Islamic Factor in the Anti-Indian Rhetoric of the Pakistan Army

Abstract

The article analyses the specifics of the appeal to the Islamic factor in Pakistan to justify the conflict with India. Long-lasting confrontation between the two countries contributed to the cultivation of an enemy image of India by the Pakistan military, that was built mostly on the opposition of Muslims and Hindus, the incompatibility of their mentality and value systems. Thus, due to the policy of the military regimes, a religious motive became an inseparable part of the Indian-Pakistani confrontation. At the same time, for the Pakistani military personnel who joined the service under the colonial government hostile attitude towards India and the Hindu population was not typical. Such events as partition of British India and the colonial armed forces on the religious basis, the clashes between Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs, and the first Indo-Pakistani war contributed to the fact that Pakistani Muslim offi cers began to distrust Hindus. Subsequent generations of military personnel showed open hostility towards the Hindus, that contributed to the perception of the conflict with India in the spirit of the “clash of civilizations”. Justifi cation for the struggle in Kashmir is an important indicator of this, as it is depicted as protection of the Muslim brothers from the Hindu rule. Since Islam is positioned as a fundamental doctrine in Pakistan, these views on the confl ict have become an integral part of the ideology in general.